And other things that make no sense. There was a movie on TV a couple of weeks ago. Everest. Seriously what is the attraction of doing this. You climbed the highest point on earth, unsuitable for humans. What was the accomplishment. Rock, ice, no oxygen. People don't belong there, obviously. Why would someone do this when they could instead be in a nice cool meadow with trees a and a stream near by. That sounds nice to me. Admittedly I've never had much ambition. Just survival mode. So for me, it literally makes no sense to want to climb Mount Everest. Does anyone find doing things like this appealing?
I agree with you, and I have never wanted to do anything like that either, @Kitty Carmel . Nope, no mountain climbing, hanging off the face of a cliff, sky-diving, or even deep sea diving. But, we are all different, and some people seem to crave this type of activity. If we enjoy sitting in the meadow and smelling the wild flowers, that is fine, and if someone wants to scale some mountain peak, then that is fine for them to do. The only problem that I can see with that is that when something happens to one of these people living on the edge, then another person has to risk their life to save the adventurer. So, they not only endanger their own life, but other people’s lives, as well.
There are bodies on Mount Everest that are not removed. More than two hundred people have died attempting to climb the mountain, and most of the bodies are still there, unburied. Although many of them are in crevices and other places, others are in the open, where climbers walk past them.
I do like hiking but not mountain climbing...no desire at all to do anything like that. I do think that hiking the Appalachian Trail would be a cool thing to do and I've read many books on it and wish I was brave and fit enough to do even a portion of it...I'm not. And I would never attempt it alone...too chicken, especially at night.
if I was brave enough I would do it...well maybe not Everest because that's verrrrry high, but despite my fear of heights, amazingly I was always a climber as a kid...probably never got more than 10 feet up the sandstone walls around where we lived but I always liked to climb...so I've always had a hankering to climb a mountain. I'm too old now to even think about it..but I do agree, I never see the point of those who climb mountains more than once. Once you'd climbed one you've climbed them all IMO..but apparently not according to my cliff climbing friend...they all present a different challenge..
I'm afraid of heights. I used to climb derricks in the oil patch, place a 2X12 board across the frame to walk out on to stab a plug. Worked derrick during drilling operations. That's a little too high for me. People who climb Everest or any of the worlds great mountains have a loose screw somewhere. May be in their DNA but somewhere there's this loose screw that lets out a little bit of 'tempt death' much akin to Evil Kenivel playing around with his motor bikes. Too much wanting acclaim, often egos too big for their abilities. No, Sir, I'll take that little house on the prairie with an accasional hike to the hills and back, or that little stream running under all those cottonwoods, sit there on the bank with my feet in the water, thinking 'maybe I ought to go buy me a pickup'. Anybody with a layout like this to enjoy needs a truck and a rifle and a good dog. There's plenty of time to lay back in your easy chair listening to the news about them mountain climbers who encountered a sudden avalanche. No one knows for sure how many are missing. Two or three climbers did make it down to report the problem but with gale force winds no rescue attempt is possible until the morrow. Stay tuned, your weather is next.
Every year someone dies climbing El Capitan at Yosemite. Just happened before I went to my daughter's. https://people.com/human-interest/rock-climber-friends-fall-death-yosemite-tim-klein-jason-wells/
I am sure that more folks die sitting in their recliner or on the toilet, than climbing Mt Everest......yet there are still huge numbers of people who still gladly do it.
And,@Joe Riley, they will all probably tell you they climb it cause its there (evidence of that loose screw) but i can't disagree with your argument. Wouldn't want to.
With hiking your are breathing the air, seeing nature and able to walk on your own two feet. If you don't trip on something. Yes there may be steep trails but it's humanly possible. I've read some trails that would be nice to walk. I don't even go to ones in my area. Worried what weirdo may be on the trail. So I get that.
I aspired once to become a climber. I was going to enroll in a climbing school when we were first married. My wife told me, "You can do it, but I won't watch. I don't want to be there to watch you die." I never signed up....
I would climb the "stairway to Heaven" (if there is one) but I have no inclination to climb Mt. Everest or any other mountain. I think it's a very foolish thing to do too...but it seems there are many fools in this World...some of them dead right on Mt. Everest.
Yes in no way do I get this @Babs Hunt and @Ken Anderson Knowing what has happened to people before and knowing they died just for that. Seems senseless. When there are things we can do in hospitable environments. It's some kind of ambition or maybe an arrogance to be able to say "I did" but it's beyond my comprehension.
I get it. As I have wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, those who climb mountains are building memories that will be with them always, and those who climb large mountains, like Mount Everest, are in an exclusive club of sorts. Hiking the Appalachian Trail would be far less so, as hundreds of people do that every year and probably hundreds more claim to have hiked the whole trail when, in reality, they cheated and only hiked part of it. But for those who do it, this would still be an experience that would always be with them.
@Kitty Carmel " Does anyone find doing things like this appealing?" Apparently, the climbers do. It has been quoted that they climb mountains "because they are there". I never understood whether they meant the mountains, or the climbers. Like any achievement of grave and deep human involvement in some unique activity, it remains that "beating" Everest must involve exceedingly deep personal commitment, both extreme will and monetary "dues". THe "fee" to climb Everest is about $45,000 and getting higher each year, unlike the mountain itself. When you own it, flaunt it's value! Frank